Mental health of healthcare professionals has recently started gaining visibility with physician burnout, stress, anxiety and more severe situations such as depression and suicide coming to the forefront. While tackling mental health problems is an important and crucial issue at hand, we are still grappling with the fact that healthcare professionals can have mental health issues and require care and corrective measures hence, addressing the issue of attitude towards self-care is the need of the hour.

Breaking the silence:

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Vivek Dwivedi, President - Association of Medical Consultants in Mumbai, shared, “When you accept the issues, then one can devise strategies for help and put it into practice. There are many methods that doctors, nurses and medical staff can follow to keep their mental health in check. The first and foremost problem that one needs to address is self-discipline given that the profession subjects you to erratic work schedules, rotational shifts and heavy workload. Preparing a timetable that accommodates physical exercises, meals, recreational activities, and wellbeing measures, can greatly help in managing a stressful life.”

He suggested, “Cultivating a culture of healthy competition, peer-to-peer conversations and strong bonds and friendships at work can help given that all colleagues are experiencing the perils of a hectic work life. Being watchful about your staff and offering help to overcome such mental health situations is important. While seeking professional help is always an option, one needs to spend time in meditation, yoga and enroll in wellness programs for guidance. Investing time in spiritual growth also offers a calming and soothing experience, one must take advantage of online programs, sessions and digital options that are easy to avail at your time of convenience. The healthcare providers must not shy away from managing mental health as caregivers are also human and one must note that self-care is priority. If you are healthy, only then can you provide the best care to others.”

The unseen crisis:

Bringing his expertise to the same, Dr Shaju George, Specialist Psychiatrist, opined, “Being in the profession for so many years, we have definitely seen a rise in the number of people seeking medical help for mental health management. The glaring question is how many of those are medical professionals. Encouraging and normalising help for mental health problems is the way forward for medical professionals and caregivers who are so involved in caregiving that they forget to care for themselves. We need to change this and create safe spaces for our doctors, nurses, and staff. The gap often lies at the workplace management levels, where hospitals, clinics, labs, diagnostic centres lay emphasis on patients but not on their own staff. We have to implement measures for our in-house staff to cope with the surmountable workload resulting in stress, burnout, anxiety, mood swings.”

He recommended, “Programs must be organised regularly to emphasise its importance and share coping mechanisms for medical staff to utilise in their daily lives. Professionals can be employed specifically to watch, counsel, and motivate staff to focus on wellness, stress management and other mental health disorders. With the rising cases of depression and suicides, protocols must be put in place to oversee the mental health of staff to avoid such occurrences. Preventive measures where meditation, yoga, relaxing activities can be incorporated at the workplace itself while sleeping pods and beds can be arranged for medical staff to rest in between shifts if needed. Support from the workplace goes a long way in helping with mental health management especially for caregivers who are neck deep in patient care.”

Healing the healers:

There has been enough and more conversations around the rising workload on healthcare professionals and pathologists, lab technicians and microscopists are no exception. Highlighting the same, Samrat Singh, Co-Founder and CEO at Medprime Technologies, said, “While technological advancements are paving the way for automation, we have a long road ahead in its adoption. With India being a highly populous country, our healthcare professionals are facing the brunt of mental health issues like stress, anxiety, and fatigue due to the mounting pressures at work. It is imperative that while we work towards accelerating healthcare, we also look after our staff and members by providing access to mental health programs, stress management coaching and wellness strategies that they can implement in their day-to-day life.”

He asserted, “Mental health support strategies come a long way in coping with work stress, while tackling the challenges on the job. Application of preventive and intervention strategies for mental health of professionals such as mindful meditation practices, digital mediums to access information on the issues faced and coping mechanisms for it, availability of psychological and psychiatric experts on the office panel, occupational health support personnel, peer support programs, while emphasizing on work-life balance.”

Samrat Singh advised, 'Healthcare organisations can sign up for innovative ideas such as employee discounts in wellness centres, yoga clinics and even wellness resorts that promote healthy vacations created to recoup from stressful situations. It is also helpful to provide tips to navigate stressful work environments and enforce leave policies while taking stringent action to promote a good working environment. Embracing innovations in the space like leveraging technologies that aid in automating work also helps in reduction of workload, a new-age way of looking at managing work-life balance."

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